Now, four conservative Republican candidates for the Senate are taking the same position, though so far the leading Louisiana Republican Senate contestant, Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, has not taken a stand on the issue.

Rob Maness, the Tea Party Republican in the Senate race, in a statement endorsed prescription-free access to birth control.

"The idea that Republicans are somehow against birth control is just ridiculous," Maness said. "I believe any adult who wants to purchase contraception should have the right to purchase it without a prescription."

This week, North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis, who has been criticized by Democrats for once saying he believed the state had the right to ban birth control, announcedthat he supports allowing birth control to be purchased over the counter.

So, have Republican Senate candidates Mike McFadden in Minnesota and Cory Gardner in Colorado. Gardner proclaimed his support in a new campaign commercial this week.

And they offer similar reasons to those expressed in 2012 by Jindal who endorsed the idea in a Wall Street Journal column.

"As a conservative Republican, I believe that we have been stupid to let the Democrats demagogue the contraceptives issue and pretend, during debates about health-care insurance, that Republicans are somehow against birth control. It's a disingenuous political argument they make.

"As an unapologetic pro-life Republican, I also believe that every adult (18 years old and over) who wants contraception should be able to purchase it."

Some Republicans agree with Jindal that taking a position to allow greater access to birth control might help Republicans, who generally have a far harder time getting support from women than Democrats.

Making birth control more readily available over the counter -- assuming the same trends for other drugs made available without prescription -- will lower costs.

But Mark Udall, D-Colo., who is running for a second term again Gardner, has responded to his opponent's birth control ad by pointing to the 2012 statement from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists supporting over the counter birth control availability. It added an important proviso, his campaign said -- that insurance coverage is needed for low-income women.

Once a drug is available over the counter, most prescription insurance plans won't cover them.

The Affordable Care Act mandates coverage for contraceptives, though the Supreme Court ruled in June that that privately held companies such as Hobby Lobby don't have to provide it if their owners have moral objections.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., the three-term incumbent in the Louisiana Senate race, like Cassidy, hasn't yet expressed a position on whether there should be over-the-counter sale of contraceptives.

The issue is tricky in Louisiana, where the Archdiocese of New Orleans chided Jindal, a Catholic, after he advocated for over-the-counter access to contraception.

"The Archdiocese of New Orleans disagrees with Governor Jindal's stance on this issue, as the use of birth control and contraceptives are against Catholic Church teaching," said Sarah Comiskey McDonald, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in a statement to EWTN News, a Catholic news network.

In 2012, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists also took issue with making birth control available over the counter by saying that there's a potential for misuse. It also objected on grounds that younger women in the association's view need the advice of a doctor.

But Jindal said supporting easier access to birth control is the right policy.

"The national Democrats prefer the status quo, so they can disingenuously demagogue and use contraception as a political tool," Jindal said Thursday. "Drug companies likely prefer the status quo as well, as prescription medication gives them a much higher profit margin. This is a common sense proposal and I'm glad to see that candidates across the country are agreeing."